Former homeowner sees holes in Michigan Medical Marijuana Act

Burley says the man ripped out the shower in the master bedroom for a spot to grow marijuana, as well as the toilet, and placed them in the hall portion of the bathroom.

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 23:18:05 GMT —

The use of medical marijuana has been a controversial subject in Michigan for the past few years and now one woman is feeling pretty bitter about the whole idea.

Mary Burley sold her Buckley rental home to a man on a land contract in 2012. A few months ago, she found out he was using it as a marijuana grow house and has essentially destroyed it. Now she's left to deal with the damages and the bills.

Burley started getting concerned about the home in December 2013 when the man she had the contract with started falling severely behind in home payments. In March she went to confront him about it and decided to call the Michigan State Police when she saw what had been done to the home, but she was shocked to hear that authorities couldnâ??t do anything about it.

â??They brought TNT out, but because he had a license to grow it was okay.â??

According to Burleyâ??s attorney, Corey Wiggins, The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act has very few regulations on where someone with a license can grow marijuana, and it doesnâ??t give any rights to someone like Mary or other land-lords to stop it.

What it does say, is that it must be in a locked room or facility. The man living at that home followed that rule.

â??The act does nothing to regulate that, as far as where it can be grown, essentially the location of it, and it doesnâ??t give any of the local governments authority to regulate it as well,â?? said Wiggins.

Wiggins says he doesnâ??t believe that all of the damage to the home was the result of marijuana being grown there, but he does believe it was the main cause and that the holes in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act need to be filled.

â??No matter what your position is on it there are clearly several issues with it that need to be worked out,â?? said Wiggins.

Burley says the man ripped out the shower in the master bedroom for a spot to grow marijuana, as well as the toilet, and placed them in the hall portion of the bathroom. Burley also found severely damaged sinks, and bathtubs, and her homeâ??s furnace thrown in the front yard. Burley says the carpets were also damaged from the plants and supplies, and that fertilizer had been through all over her front yard.

â??I am livid,â?? said Burley. I am so upset. I canâ??t even go in there. I donâ??t even want to clean it up. I donâ??t even want to do anything with it. I would just assume have the fire department come out and do a controlled burn on it.â??

Wiggins says there is a bill that passed the Michigan Senate last winter that would allow landlords to regulate or prohibit the use or growth of marijuana. Itâ??s currently stalled in the house.

Burley is currently trying to regain possession of her home and trying to force the man who was living there to pay for the damages.